Another peaceful day in the young lady’s room.
In the lazy afternoon, with warm spring breezes blowing in, I brought snacks to Olivia’s room and saw her sitting at her desk, focused on sothing.
“Fold it to the left once.”
Mumbling to herself, Olivia fidgeted with a large piece of paper, nodding her head as she moved her hands again.
“Again to the left…”
Pouting her lips in concentration, Olivia seed deeply absorbed in sothing profound, prompting to approach quietly without making a sound.
It must be that package from last ti.
-Ricardo, if a package arrives, do not open it.
-Why not?
-Just don’t. It’s my underwear.
I had thought about opening it out of curiosity but managed to resist. Teaching her how to order things through mail seed like just yesterday, and seeing her handle it herself now filled with pride.
With her small, delicate fingers pressing down on the cardboard, Olivia stayed focused.
I asked while watching her engrossed in folding paper.
“Young lady.”
“Mmm.”
She answered without even looking up.
I waved my hand in front of her and made a silly face, but it failed to break her concentration. She remained deeply absorbed in her task.
Is this what they call a workaholic?
I admired her dedication but felt a twinge of disappointnt that she ignored the world’s most handso butler.
With a lancholic expression, I asked why she was suddenly folding cardboard.
“What are you doing?”
“Folding boxes.”
“Why are you folding boxes all of a sudden?”
“It’s…”
-Press.
She folded the cardboard in half again and pressed it down firmly.
As the cardboard took shape, her words dwindled.
Feeling her focus wane, Olivia let out a huff and nodded, leaving to sigh in disappointnt at her unfinished explanation.
“Young lady!”
“Ahh…!”
Startled by my loud call, Olivia’s shoulders twitched as she looked at . Her face was filled with innocent tears, and I spoke with a smile.
“Why are you folding boxes?”
“Ah. Where did I leave off…?”
“From ‘It’s…’”
“Ah, yes. It’s…”
Olivia resud folding the box while speaking.
I today, I snatched the paper box from her hands and clasped my hands behind my back.
“Oh…!”
Olivia’s eyes widened as the cardboard disappeared. She looked at , puzzled, and tilted her head.
“Do you want to fold paper too, Ricardo?”
“No.”
“Join . It’s fun.”
She grabbed another cardboard sheet from the desk and held it out to .
“It doesn’t seem like fun.”
“…”
A hit to her pride, Olivia laughed awkwardly.
“No, it’s really fun! Look!”
With an enthusiastic expression, Olivia began to fold a new cardboard sheet. Watching her lively face, I was certain.
“Eek…”
Olivia didn’t really want to fold boxes; she wanted to lie down. With a small smile, I sat in front of her and propped my chin on my hands.
“So, why are you folding this?”
Olivia answered with a faint smile.
“I’m doing a part-ti job.”
“Part-ti job?”
“Yeah, folding pizza boxes.”
“Oh…”
Looking at the box she was folding, I thought.
‘Box…?’
Could this philosophical and artistic piece truly be called a ‘pizza box’? Staring at Olivia’s project, which resembled a grotesque dusa, I voiced my honest opinion.
“You’re likely to get fired for this.”
With a serious expression, Olivia nodded.
“I think so too.”
Olivia had a fast self-awareness. She handed another pile of cardboard sheets with a determined look.
“Want to join?”
“No.”
“Why not?!”
“It doesn’t seem like fun.”
“Join !”
“No.”
“Eek!”
From that day on, Olivia took a great interest in side jobs. Whenever she saw part-ti job ads in newspapers, she promptly sent a letter.
Initially, I opposed seeing Olivia struggle, but her stubborn desire to earn her own money eventually broke my resistance.
-Eek! I want to earn money!
-But I’m earning it.
-No, I want to earn money too.
-I can earn twice as much, can’t I?
-You’ll beco a bad man if you overwork yourself. No.
-Hasn’t it always been that way? I’ve been a bad person all along. I even extorted soone today.
-…Co to think of it, you did.
-Indeed.
Earning her own money was good for her, so, aiming to foster her social skills, I allowed her to take on part-ti jobs.
She would learn the value of money this way.
Any ti Olivia pointed to a job ad in the newspaper and asked, “This one?” I nodded. Finally, Olivia could break free from being jobless.
And she made many mistakes along the way.
She got fired from the teddy bear eye-attachnt job for making a female bear.
She gave artsy twists to folding cardboard boxes, causing more expenses than earnings.
She started embroidering handkerchiefs but quit in frustration. Regardless, seeing her persistently try new things filled with pride.
Had Darbav seen this, he would probably have shed tears. I wanted to take a photo and send it to him, but alas, we had no cara.
Now, Olivia was on her bed engaged in a new part-ti job.
With clumsy stitching, she was making dolls and spoke to with pouted lips.
“Ricardo.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t grow your hair, Ricardo.”
“My hair?”
I glanced in the mirror and asked.
“Why is that?”
“You look ugly.”
“I have such a handso face that any hairstyle suits .”
“No, you look best as you are now.”
Smiling, I decided to playfully tease her as I made a doll beside her.
“So, young lady. Do I look handso now?”
Like petals blown gently by the spring breeze, Olivia paused briefly, then responded with a smile.
“Yes, you look handso.”
Suddenly, I felt my face flush with warmth.
Noticing sothing odd, Olivia froze with her needle and thread.
“Huh?”
Realizing she had been her head, she corrected herself.
“No!”
“What isn’t correct?”
“I misspoke. You’re ugly, Ricardo.”
“It’s too late. You’ve already fallen for my charm…”
“Eek!”
“Hehe!”
“Eek…”
With pursed lips, Olivia expressed her discontent, letting out a long sigh.
“You’re not handso, but you’re tolerable.”
Her huffy tone made laugh, nodding in agreent.
“Better than nothing.”
Even that was enough for .
A brief silence fell, and just as Olivia’s doll was about to take its first steps into the world.
-Ouch.
“Eek!!!”
Pricking herself with the needle, Olivia yelled noisily, bidding farewell to the doll.
“I’m not doing this anymore!”
Such simple days are what I cherish.
*****
A somber atmosphere shrouded Histania.
Sitting in his dark office, Rowen looked at the letter on the desk with a sigh.
[Short-term Invitation to Teach at the Academy]
Mumbling with a grim expression, Rowen fiddled with the letter.
“Professor at the Academy…”
The Academy.
A place filled with over twenty years of mories.
A place where he had t his rival and first love.
And where he ford bonds that brought him two daughters and a son.
To Rowen, the Academy was where his life truly began. It was the only place he could escape the suffocating demands of his father and the family that choked him with its insistence on swordsmanship.
“….”
Lost in mories, Rowen let out a bitter smile.
‘Did Hanna feel the sa?’
He never considered himself a good parent. The family ca before his children, upholding Histania’s lineage and future was his duty.
To ensure a better future, he had to cultivate a talented successor, even if that ant being harsh and sacrificing his children.
Rowen acknowledged he wasn’t a warm father and accepted his strictness towards his children because of the family’s demands.
His stubborn belief that he had endured worse was his sole justification.
It was this justification that likely led to his daughter’s death.
Rowen pondered deeply while sitting in the chair.
Should he go to the Academy?
Or should he, as usual, ignore the invitation?
What was certain was that right now,
Rowen missed his youngest daughter.
End of Chapter
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